Armed Walks: Christmas Trip (Warning Pic Heavy)

I was able to spend 3 weeks at home for Christmas which was such a blessing! It has been a few years since I have been able to be home for Christmas and I was so happy to be able to spend it with my family. My brother and his wife were also able to be there for Christmas. It made my parents very happy to be able to have there whole family with them for the holidays. I was able to do my incredible things while I was home but I will try to just hit the highlights. Some of the best parts of the trip weren't necessarily big planned events as much as just getting to spend time with family and friends.

I was able to attend a performance of Handel's Messiah with several friends which was outstanding! It was probably the best one I have been to yet and it was a great experience.

At the restaurant where we ate on the way there I was able to get a serious piece of chocolate cake!

I stayed pretty busy while I was home but I knew that I wanted to get out snowboarding at least once. The conditions when we went weren't the best I had ever seen but they weren't too bad. It was about 30 degrees and overcast/foggy. It hadn't snowed in a few days but all of the trails were well groomed making for good riding. I was trying to not do anything too crazy because I didn't want to risk an injury that would disqualify me from the United States Coast Guard Academy but I still had a really good time. I am at the point were I can confidently ride most black diamond trails and it was fun to explore runs I had never done before.

One of the highlights of the trip was taking a short family vacation to the Cape Disappointment, WA/Astoria, OR area. This is a beautiful part of the United States and it is very rich in Coast Guard history. This area is known as the graveyard of the Pacific due to the violent seas created when the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. The weather was fairly calm while we were there, but there were still some pretty impressive waves. We stayed in a nice little condo just a few minutes walk from the beach and had a great time relaxing and seeing the sites. A primary reason for our trip was to visit Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment. This is probably the most well know Coast Guard small boat station and is designated as one of only 20 Coast Guard surf stations. Surf stations are required when the sea state is 8 feet or higher at least 10% of the year (36 days) and Cape Disappointment definitely meets that definition! I had called ahead, and because I was active duty Coast Guard, they were more than willing to give us a tour. When we got to the station, they were in the process of receiving a request for a assistance. A boat was not in grave danger, but had lost their engines and was DIW (dead in the water) with two POB (persons on board). It was neat to see the whole process from them receiving the radio call to grabbing their gear and launching a boat to render assistance. Since I joined the Coast Guard, my family has spent a lot of time researching the Coast Guard and learning how they operate and it really neat for them to witness a surf station in full operation. Knowing that I was active duty myself, our tour guide let us climb all over the surf boats. We were able to explore both the 47' Motor Lifeboat (MLB) and the 52' Triumph II, one of only 4 remaining 52' MLBs in the Coast Guard. Our tour guide gave us an outstanding tour. He answered all of our questions and was extremely knowledgeable about the operations of the station especially for someone of his rank and time in the Coast Guard. This tour was definitely a highlight of our mini vacation!

47' MLB launching on a search and rescue (SAR) case while we were there.

We also got to explore both the North Head Lighthouse and the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse which were amazing and were set on bluffs with beautiful views.

North Head Lighthouse

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

To prove to my sisters that I am still a little kid at heart, I came up with a dramatic pose that I attempted to do in as many locations as possible and even convinced one of my sisters to do with me on occasion.

One day we decided to drive over to Astoria and explore the Coast Guard history there. While there we noticed a 210' Medium Endurance Cutter, USCGC Alert, was inport. After talking to the watchstander and explaining that I was active duty myself, my family was offered a tour. It was so cool to be able to show my family another aspect of Coast Guard operations.